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Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) was once one of the most ecologically important tree species in the Southern United States. Longleaf pine and its accompanying forest ecosystems covered vast swaths of the Southern United States, spanning an estimated 92 million acres. Although once one of the most extensive forest ecosystems in North America, only a fraction of...

Old-growth savannas and forests dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) are of great conservation and research interest. Comprehensive inventories of old-growth communities, however, are lacking for most of longleaf pine's natural range. We searched the literature, interviewed regional experts, queried email discussion lists and...

Regenerating longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is key to its long-term sustainable production of forest resources and its perpetuation as the dominant tree species in a variety of important ecosystems ranging from xeric to mesic to hydric site conditions. Early regeneration to problems and the subsequent efforts to overcome these are significant...

Although longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) is a highly desirable species, resisting fire, insects, and disease, and producing high quality solid wood products, it now occupies only about 5 percent of its original range. Regeneration of the species either by natural or artificial methods or by planting of bareroot nursery stock has been difficult...

The difficulty in establishing stands of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) by artificial regeneration techniques has been a major factor in the decline of the number of acres occupied by this species in the Southeast. Many landowners and managers have been reluctant to plant longleaf because of its history of poor survival. Loblolly pine (

The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystem has historically been very important in the southeastern United States due to its extensive area and high biodiversity. Successful regeneration of longleaf pine forests requires an adequate number of well distributed seedlings. Thus, mortality of longleaf pine seedlings during logging operations...

By the fifth anniversary of the Americaâs Longleaf Restoration Initiative in 2014, the decline inÂ longleaf pine (Pinus palustris L.) appears to have been reversed. The area in longleaf pine-dominated standsÂ currently exceeds 4 million acres, up from a low of about 3 million acres two decades ago. A major contributionÂ to this reversal has been the...

The Flomaton Natural Area (FNA) once stood as one of the few remnant fragments of virgin, old-growth longleaf pine stands (Pinus palustris Mill.) in the Southeast. This 80-acre stand contained trees over 200 years old. A restoration effort began in 1994 to remove off-site trees and to reintroduce fire to the site after over 40 years of fire suppression. A geographic...

Repeated fire is key to the viability of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems, but its acceptance as a management tool may depend on satisfactory longleaf pine growth. This is because longleaf pine establishment often has the dual-purpose of ecosystem restoration and stemwood production. Timely recovery of scorched foliage among...

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems once occupied 38 million ha in the Southeastern United States, occurring as forests, woodlands, and savannas on a variety of sites ranging from wet flatwoods to xeric sandhills and rocky mountainous ridges. Characterized by an open parklike structure, longleaf pine ecosystems are a product of frequent fires...

Ecological restoration in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) stand is being studied in the Flomaton Natural Area (FNA) in Escambia County, AL. The FNA had been protected from fire for over 45 years. The absence of fire permitted a hardwood midstory and litter layer to develop at the expense of longleaf pine regeneration and an herbaceous...

Success in restoring longleaf pine ecosystems depends on outplanting high-quality longleaf pine seedlings. One important and relatively understudied attribute of seedling quality is cold hardiness. A suite of trials was conducted to investigate the influence of common nursery cultural practices on longleaf pine cold hardiness. Cold hardiness was increased with higher...

Historical land-use and management practices in the southeastern United States have resulted in the widespread conversion of many upland sites from dominance of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) to loblolly pine (P. taeda L.) in the time following European settlement. Given the ecological, economic, and cultural...

Many of the stand structural characteristics of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests that existed prior to European colonization have been altered or lost from past disturbance histories (Frost this volume). For example, often missing are the widely spaced, large-diameter trees, the all-aged stand structure that included a vigorous cohort...

We investigated the effect of fire and fire frequency on stand structure and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris P. Mill.) growth and population demography in an experimental research area in a southwest Florida sandhill community. Data were collected from replicated plots that had prescribed fire-return intervals of 1, 2, 5, or 7 years or were left...

Natural communities dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) once covered an estimated two thirds of the forested area in the southeastern United States. Today, less than 1.2 million ha remain. However, over the past 10-15 years, public land managers have begun to restore many longleaf pine forests. More recently incentive programs have...

The historical range of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris P. Mill) has been greatly reduced, in part, by lack of fire. Recently, the application of fire has become an accepted practice for the restoration of longleaf pine to former parts of its natural range. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of season of prescribed fire on the root growth...

Throughout the southeastern United States, land managers are currently interested in converting loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations to species rich longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems. In a 3-year study on moderately well- to well-drained soils of the Lower Coastal Plain in North Carolina, we examined the...

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) is not loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) or slash pine (Pinus elliottii L.). There is the need for a paradigmatic shift in our thinking about longleaf pine. All too often we think of longleaf as an intolerant species, slow-grower, difficult to regenerate, and yet it dominated the pre...